The price of Litecoin remained on guard over the weekend, reflecting the performance of Bitcoin, which remains below $95,000.
Litecoin (LTC), a cryptocurrency based on a proof-of-work system, was frozen at $103.03, a drop of 30% from its highest level in 2024. This decline is part of a trend observed on most cryptocurrencies, which saw their gains from last year attenuate.
Litecoin’s performance is also influenced by the declining odds of approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of a spot ETF for LTC in 2025. According to Polymarket, these odds have increased from 60% at the start of year at 42% currently.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, championed the idea that the SEC would eventually approve a spot ETF for LTC. In a December post, he argued that the agency would easily approve a Litecoin fund, given that the cryptocurrency is a fork of Bitcoin (BTC).
Canary Capital is the only company that has filed for a spot Litecoin ETF. Grayscale could also consider turning its Litecoin Trust, which has more than $215 million in assets, into a spot ETF, as has been done for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Although a spot ETF for Litecoin would be beneficial for the cryptocurrency, it is uncertain whether it will attract the interest of institutional investors. The example of the performance of spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum illustrates this situation. Bitcoin funds manage over $107 billion in assets, representing 5.7% of the total market capitalization, while Ethereum funds hold $11.6 billion, or 2.96% of the capitalization, indicating a rather weak institutional demand.
Interest in Litecoin may be less than interest in Ethereum, given that the cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $7.7 billion, is a smaller project. Additionally, it has lost market share in the cryptocurrency sector, its position dropping to 22nd place from the top ten a few years ago.
Traders on Polymarket are optimistic that the SEC will approve ETFs for Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP) this year. The odds of approval for a spot ETF for XRP are 70%, while those for Solana ETFs stand at 73%. These funds could have a chance of success, given that these two cryptocurrencies have market capitalizations of $144 billion and $67 billion, respectively.
The current situation of Litecoin raises important questions about the future of this cryptocurrency in the face of the potential increase in ETFs and market dynamics. A discussion around the opportunities and associated risks is essential for investors wishing to navigate this ever-changing sector.
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